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Who knew? The CEO of UNILEVER cares about the environment. His ambitious climate hopes~
Last edited Tue Aug 11, 2015, 10:01 AM - Edit history (2)
The Forest Path to an Ambitious Climate Deal
by
Paul Polman
CEO, Unilever
Chairman of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development
8/10/2015
In September, governments will set goals for eliminating extreme poverty by 2030, having first agreed on ways to mobilise the investments needed to succeed. Then, this December in Paris, nations will agree a potentially far-reaching climate change pact. This pact will stitch together various country-level action plans through 2025 or 2030. In parallel, companies will also announce new climate goals. These pledges will show that both the public and private sectors are doing more than ever before. Yet, collectively these pledges will fall short of what the world needs to keep global warming to less than 2° C, a threshold that scientists and governments have agreed is critical to avoid catastrophic consequences for hundreds of millions of people. To strengthen the Paris agreement global leaders should look to the world's forests.
At the UN Secretary-General's Climate Summit in September 2014, over 175 countries, companies and organisations representing indigenous peoples, signed the New York Declaration on Forests - committing to cutting global natural forest loss in half by 2020, and ending it entirely by 2030, while also increasing forest restoration. A critical mass of tropical forest nations and global agricultural companies strongly endorsed these ambitious goals for the first time. And advanced economies committed to providing large-scale economic incentives to help make dramatic progress possible. Once implemented, according to the UN, achieving these goals will cut between 4.5 and 8.8 billion tons of carbon pollution per year by 2030 - about the same as ending all climate pollution from every car in the world. And doing so is more cost-effective than other climate solutions, with many benefits for the 1.6 billion people who depend on forests for their livelihoods.
Several developing countries are leading the way. Brazil has reduced forest loss in the Amazon by more than 75 percent, all while increasing agricultural productivity and rural incomes for the poor. These results came about through strengthening policies and implementing better governance, with leadership from within government, as well as the private sector and civil society....
...snip...
...But forest countries, local communities and companies cannot succeed alone. Now developed countries must fulfill their commitment to create economic incentives for action. Forest nations willing to do more than their fair share to solve the climate crisis should be rewarded through results-based payments. In Paris, developed nations should make good on their 2014 pledges to provide economic incentives by committing to financing 2 billion tons of emission reductions per year from tropical forests by 2020. ...
Read full article here~
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-polman/the-forest-path-to-an-amb_b_7964208.html
by
Paul Polman
CEO, Unilever
Chairman of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development
8/10/2015
In September, governments will set goals for eliminating extreme poverty by 2030, having first agreed on ways to mobilise the investments needed to succeed. Then, this December in Paris, nations will agree a potentially far-reaching climate change pact. This pact will stitch together various country-level action plans through 2025 or 2030. In parallel, companies will also announce new climate goals. These pledges will show that both the public and private sectors are doing more than ever before. Yet, collectively these pledges will fall short of what the world needs to keep global warming to less than 2° C, a threshold that scientists and governments have agreed is critical to avoid catastrophic consequences for hundreds of millions of people. To strengthen the Paris agreement global leaders should look to the world's forests.
At the UN Secretary-General's Climate Summit in September 2014, over 175 countries, companies and organisations representing indigenous peoples, signed the New York Declaration on Forests - committing to cutting global natural forest loss in half by 2020, and ending it entirely by 2030, while also increasing forest restoration. A critical mass of tropical forest nations and global agricultural companies strongly endorsed these ambitious goals for the first time. And advanced economies committed to providing large-scale economic incentives to help make dramatic progress possible. Once implemented, according to the UN, achieving these goals will cut between 4.5 and 8.8 billion tons of carbon pollution per year by 2030 - about the same as ending all climate pollution from every car in the world. And doing so is more cost-effective than other climate solutions, with many benefits for the 1.6 billion people who depend on forests for their livelihoods.
Several developing countries are leading the way. Brazil has reduced forest loss in the Amazon by more than 75 percent, all while increasing agricultural productivity and rural incomes for the poor. These results came about through strengthening policies and implementing better governance, with leadership from within government, as well as the private sector and civil society....
...snip...
...But forest countries, local communities and companies cannot succeed alone. Now developed countries must fulfill their commitment to create economic incentives for action. Forest nations willing to do more than their fair share to solve the climate crisis should be rewarded through results-based payments. In Paris, developed nations should make good on their 2014 pledges to provide economic incentives by committing to financing 2 billion tons of emission reductions per year from tropical forests by 2020. ...
Read full article here~
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-polman/the-forest-path-to-an-amb_b_7964208.html
FYI, Unilever brands~
***Its nice to be able to say something good about one of the massive corporations monopolizing our (processed) food supply. I'm absolutely certain Unilever is not perfect, but at least the guy at the helm gives a damn!
ETA:: Just came across this ~
WWF and Unilever form partnership to protect one million trees
7/7/2015
....The partnership between the world’s leading conservation organisation and the global consumer goods company will raise awareness of the importance of forests to life on earth as well as the threats our forests face.
An area the size of England is lost to deforestation every year, while up to a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation and forest degradation. With world leaders due to meet in Paris in December for UN climate talks, the campaign will engage consumers in the issues and give them practical ways to raise their voice and make a difference.
As part of the partnership, Unilever and WWF will help protect a million trees by supporting forest protection programmes in Brazil and Indonesia. These two countries have historically had the highest rates of deforestation in the world and have some of the largest areas of intact forest globally.
Marco Lambertini, Director General of WWF International, said: “This partnership with Unilever is an opportunity to engage millions of consumers for forests and for the climate, inspiring positive change in people's everyday lives. WWF's relationship with Unilever goes back to the 1990s when we worked together to establish the Marine Stewardship Council.
...Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, said: “Stopping deforestation is an urgent priority in tackling climate change. Forests are second only to the oceans as the largest global store of carbon and support 80 percent of terrestrial biodiversity across the globe. “As a business it is crucial that we operate sustainably and take action to help consumers live sustainably. It’s a moral imperative and a business one - to be here for the long term....
http://www.clickgreen.org.uk/news/international-news/126240-wwf-and-unilever-in-partnership-to-protect-one-million-trees.html
7/7/2015
....The partnership between the world’s leading conservation organisation and the global consumer goods company will raise awareness of the importance of forests to life on earth as well as the threats our forests face.
An area the size of England is lost to deforestation every year, while up to a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation and forest degradation. With world leaders due to meet in Paris in December for UN climate talks, the campaign will engage consumers in the issues and give them practical ways to raise their voice and make a difference.
As part of the partnership, Unilever and WWF will help protect a million trees by supporting forest protection programmes in Brazil and Indonesia. These two countries have historically had the highest rates of deforestation in the world and have some of the largest areas of intact forest globally.
Marco Lambertini, Director General of WWF International, said: “This partnership with Unilever is an opportunity to engage millions of consumers for forests and for the climate, inspiring positive change in people's everyday lives. WWF's relationship with Unilever goes back to the 1990s when we worked together to establish the Marine Stewardship Council.
...Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, said: “Stopping deforestation is an urgent priority in tackling climate change. Forests are second only to the oceans as the largest global store of carbon and support 80 percent of terrestrial biodiversity across the globe. “As a business it is crucial that we operate sustainably and take action to help consumers live sustainably. It’s a moral imperative and a business one - to be here for the long term....
http://www.clickgreen.org.uk/news/international-news/126240-wwf-and-unilever-in-partnership-to-protect-one-million-trees.html
Good stuff!!
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
We need to turn this around~
An estimated 18 million acres (7.3 million hectares) of forest, which is roughly the size of the country of Panama, are lost each year, according to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Some other statistics:
-About half of the world's tropical forests have been cleared (FAO)
-Forests currently cover about 30 percent of the world’s land mass (National Geographic)
-Forest loss contributes between 6 percent and 12 percent of annual global
carbon dioxide emissions (Nature Geoscience)
-About 36 football fields worth of trees lost every minute (World Wildlife Fund (WWF))
http://www.livescience.com/27692-deforestation.html
Some other statistics:
-About half of the world's tropical forests have been cleared (FAO)
-Forests currently cover about 30 percent of the world’s land mass (National Geographic)
-Forest loss contributes between 6 percent and 12 percent of annual global
carbon dioxide emissions (Nature Geoscience)
-About 36 football fields worth of trees lost every minute (World Wildlife Fund (WWF))
http://www.livescience.com/27692-deforestation.html
And that wonderful country that enables slave labor & mass graves for slaves, Malaysia, is also the country with the highest rate of deforestation. So glad the US is insisting on including Malaysia in the TPP....
